A news-based journal on the Boston restaurant scene. The owner of this blog is also the founder of Boston's Hidden Restaurants, a website that focuses on local dining spots.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

A Number of Cambridge Restaurants Could Be Temporarily Shut Down Over Unpaid License Fees

A total of sixteen Cambridge restaurants are getting notifications from the city warning them that they could be temporarily closed down if they don't pay their annual license fees.

Cambridge Day is reporting that a meeting was held on Tuesday about non-payment of licenses, and that none of the dining spots that owe money showed up. The restaurants--which include Pinkberry in Harvard Square, Cosi and Discovery Cafe in Kendall Square, and McDonald's and Burger King by Alewife--are now being giving cease-and-desist letters and an investigator may go out to tell the dining spots that they need to shut down until the license payments for 2016 are made, according to the article. (Pinkberry and Cosi also owe fees for 2015 as well.) The city says that information on license renewals went out to all restaurants back in November and that notices about this week's hearing went out on January 12 to those that did not renew, though at least a couple of dining spots indicated that they never received the notice about the hearing.

The article says that in some cases, the businesses are no longer in operation, so the city expects those letters to return unopened. (Yogurtland in Harvard Square and Tisan Coffee by Porter Square are two such examples.)

[February 19 update: A License Commission General Hearing page within the city of Cambridge website lists some of the restaurants that have received the cease-and-desist letters for not paying their annual license fees for 2016, with the list including Rod Dee, Beantown Taqueria, Santouka, Pinkberry, McDonald's (Alewife), and Burger King (Alewife), along with the now-closed Yogurtland, Tisan Coffee, and Alpine Bagel.